


It's been a long night

by Savannah_J



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Bruce Wayne - Fandom
Genre: Family Fluff, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-25 21:57:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20919266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Savannah_J/pseuds/Savannah_J
Summary: Bruce and his boys have had a long night, and the last thing he expected was to share his bed tonight.





	It's been a long night

**Author's Note:**

> Comments, kudos and critisism is welcome! Hope you enjoy!

Bruce sits down on the edge of his bed, massaging his temples. It had been a long week. A long life really, but an especially long week.

Joker had broken out of Arkham, and had wreaked all sorts of havoc before the Bats had managed to track him down. Tim and himself had spent the week in the cave, going on nothing but caffeine and the occasional hors d'oeuvre Alfred brought down to the cave. All his boys had gone with him to apprehend the Joker, which, as normal, was not an easy job. 

They got it done, but the clown had taken a psychological approach, bringing out things that even shook Batman to the core. At the end, everyone parted ways with a bit less of themselves as before. 

Bruce lied down, knowing he should sleep. The thing is, every time he closed his eyes, the white face with that creepy smile, seemingly losing a bit more of its sanity each time he saw it, kept making its way into his thoughts, eventually forcing him to lie awake, staring at the ceiling. 

His boys. That's all he thought about.

Dick, as laughable and goofy as he was, had his traumas that cut deep. The Joker had managed to bring those out without even knowing who Nightwing was, cutting so deep even the domino mask couldn't hide the look of pain in his eyes. 

The night was probably the hardest on Jason. The clown had killed him before; he would probably do it again. The damage he put Jason through was tremendous, and he knew it. 

Jason was ready to kill tonight. Bruce knew this, and didn't want to bring Jason, yet, at the same time, he knew Jason needed this and Bruce needed Jason. He didn't kill Joker, but only because he never had a clean shot. 

Tim, already low on sleep and drained, was susceptible to damage easily. It hadn't taken much to get to him. His screams, pure pain, felt like someone had reached inside Bruce and was pulling his heart, trying their best to take it out. Tim had fallen asleep as soon as they got home, and Bruce was glad. 

Then there was Damian. Damian acted the toughest, but at his core, he was a child. A child who has nightmares, a child who didn't deserve this, and a child who would be scarred for the rest of his life. His brothers reactions had scared him, maybe even more so than the Joker. Though, he would never in a million years admit it. In his eyes, fear was weakness. 

His thoughts were interrupted by a strange shuffling by the doorway. Bruce jumped up, awake and ready to fight. When he saw the small, confused frame that was Tim in the doorway, he relaxed. Tim looked at Bruce and slurred 

" Bruce? How'd I get in here?"

Bruce fights back a smile at the thoroughly confuzzled boy.

"You were sleepwalking Tim. Go back to bed."

"Mkay."

The boy crawled into the bed beside Bruce and closed his eyes. Not really what Bruce was thinking, but, okay. Besides, Bruce's bed could probably fit all of Smallville with room to spare. Bruce lay down beside Tim, and had to hold in a gasp when Tim put his arm on the Bat's bicep. 

Tim was dead to the world and Bruce's mind was starting to slow down when Dick walked into the bedroom, eyes downcast. Bruce gently sat up, not wanting to wake the child beside him.

"Dick? Didn't you go back to Bludhaven?"

Dicks voice came out, barely a whisper when he said 

"B, I tried, but I just can't get him out of my mind."

The voice was tear-stained, hurt, and scared.  
Bruce didn't have a hard time guessing what (or who) he was scared of.

The tears running down Dicks face made his heart twist and turn in ways he didn't even know were possible. Bruce wanted to go, and pick up the man like he was 12 again, and protect him from the world, never allowing anyone to touch him. 

Instead, he lifted up the covers on his other side, and Dick wordlessly climbed in beside him, tears flowing a bit more freely now. 

Dick was soon very asleep, and Tim still basically in a coma. Bruce thought about how these kids had changed both the Bat and Bruce in ways he could've never imagined possible, reaching something even Alfred had yet to find in him. 

And his last thought before his eyes closed was about how much he loved all his boys with everything he had. 

Bruce was awakened by a grunt, followed by a scream, followed by a rather loud shushing, right outside his door. Dick shot up beside him, while Tim merely stirred. Soon, the hallway light turned on, silhouetting both Jason and Damian in the doorway. Damian stuttered -stuttered- 

"F-father. I didn't mean to wake you." 

Jason, wearing his street clothes, said 

"Then why were you outside his door at three am?"

"Tt. I could say the same about you, Todd!" 

Jason, ignoring the boy beside him, said,

"The demon was asleep on the ground outside your door."

Damian turned red, which was actually rather perplexing, given his tan skin.

"I-I was protecting you. You never know what kind of people could break into the mansion." 

Yeah, right. Bruce thought. He spent hundreds of thousands on this mansion security, there was no way that anyone was getting in. Bruce made a mental note to bring up Damians nightmares in a tactical way tomorrow.

"Well, I'm sure you can much better protect us in here."

Dick responded. Bruce nodded and said. 

"The windows are much more visible at this angle."

Damian said 

"Yes, of course. Thank you, Father. Grayson." 

Damian crawled in between Bruce and Dick, thankfully not able to see Tim in the relative darkness. 

"Now, Jason, what were you doing?" Jason looked down at his boot and said "I was checking up on you guys." To make sure you hadn't been taken by the man who took so much from me.

The unspoken part hung in the air like fog in the morning. Instead of trying to come up with a reason for Jay to stay, Bruce just lifted up the covers on his other side.

Jason bit his lip, clearly debating between his pride and his comfort. The war in his mind was evident, and Bruce did nothing to try to end it. If he pushed too hard, the Hood would back away. 

Finally, after a few good minutes, Jason kicked off his boots and climbed in beside Tim, who was now snoring loudly. 

They were all asleep in minutes. 

When Alfred came to tell Bruce he needed to wake up for his board meeting this morning, he was not only surprised, but shocked to find all of his grandsons curled up with his son in the middle, arms intertwined showing the connection between them. 

Yes, the meeting was postponed. 

And yes, Alfred took a picture. 

(And yes, it's on the refrigerator.)

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I basically melted writing this.


End file.
